


Ladies of War (Not Only Angels Fall)

by Glinda



Category: Neverwhere - Gaiman
Genre: F/F, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-27
Updated: 2010-02-27
Packaged: 2017-10-07 14:10:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/65903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glinda/pseuds/Glinda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hunter returns to Serpentine one last time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ladies of War (Not Only Angels Fall)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt 'loss' in overlooked.

Serpentine waits for Hunter's return; even though rumours tell that she has fallen to the beast she sought to slay. Serpentine has thought Hunter lost on many occasions since they first met, but Hunter has always returned eventually. Hunter has a restless soul, Serpentine has always known this, understood that Hunter could never be bound to one place for any length of time. Sometimes she would stay for weeks or months at a time, others she passed through in a matter of hours, and once, in time of strife, she had stayed by Serpentine's side for almost a decade. Serpentine misses her the same whether she is gone a few hours or a century. They are older than most mortals can imagine, the two of them, and time has taught Serpentine patience. Hunter had promised her, long ago, that when her steps slowed and her eyes grew dim she would return and be content to rest by Serpentine's side for the rest of their days. Serpentine had never feared Hunter's departure after that, safe in the knowledge that her love would always return.

She worries about Hunter, though she assures herself that there is no need, as she has not done for many a year. Hunter has sought to kill the Great Beast of London for almost as long as Serpentine has known her. The Great Bear of Berlin and the Alligator of New York fell to Hunter's skill, when countless others had fallen in the attempt before her. Yet, Serpentine is uneasy and will remain so until Hunter returns victorious from her battle. There is something about Hunter's eyes, something wild and a little manic, something that makes Hunter duck her head and try to hide her eagerness from her old employer. Hunter has never been embarrassed to show her emotions in front of Serpentine, never felt any need to hide anything from her. The thought of Hunter ashamed of her own desires sends a cold shudder through Serpentine's heart. It speaks of obsession, the dangerous kind. She knows that Islington is in possession of the spear and wonders just what price Hunter has agreed to pay him for it.

Hunter returns to her one last time. The warrior brings her back, too cold, too pale, too still. The Marquis and the Lady Door accompany him, cautious of her mockery or rage, but the warrior comes without fear, only grief in his heart. For all that Hunter had betrayed them, he chooses instead to remember that she had saved his life, and that he could not have defeated the beast alone. His response intrigues Serpentine, and she uses her intellectual fascination at the workings of the human mind to discipline herself in the face of her own grief. Allowing her to show only regret to such as these and share a toast to the fallen with those who have returned her old friend to her. They did not need to bring Hunter back, but they have and she is grateful. Even if it is all she can do not to fall to her knees, howling her grief and casting dark and bitter curses upon them and their descendants for causing this loss.

The warrior is young, still callow though no longer innocent, his eyes not yet hardened by battle and loss. His first kill has not changed him as much as surviving the ordeal that came before did, merely assured him that he is capable of being what she knew him to be, the Lady Door's champion. There is no blood lust in his eyes, nor any glee, when he speaks of his battle with the beast. Instead there is only relief at their success and survival, and sadness at the price paid. Adventure, like the Night's Bridge, takes its toll in blood and care. Serpentine does not know nor care what the Marquis or the Lady Door think of Hunter's actions, whether they pity her or blame her makes no difference. But the warrior, his opinion intrigues her for all that it is equally incidental. He chooses to place the blame at Islington's feet, judging Hunter no more than himself, considering them both equally manipulated and foolish for trusting the angel. (She hopes he can hold onto that capacity, that he will not fall into the obsession that had slowly consumed Hunter, that the Lady Door will not watch her champion slide through her fingers and become a stranger once more.) She can see it in his eyes as he talks, in the way he wears Hunter's mantle uncomfortably, if he is ever to be the warrior that Hunter saw in him, that London Below will one day need, then he needs to lay aside this guilt he carries. This she can and will give him. She silences him with a cold finger upon his lips and promises that if Islington ever returns to London Below then the wrath of the Seven Sisters will fall upon him for hat he has done. He nods his acquiescence and she knows that when the time comes she will have a loyal sword to hand in him. The thought warms her a little, an assurance that even in her last days, Hunter's judgement and sight were not entirely dimmed by the quest for the beast.

He speaks of home and she sees the sadness in the Lady Door's eyes. The only reward he seeks for his actions is to return to his old life in London Above. This desire has driven him through hardship and fear, allowing him to forge a new self that could cope with his new surroundings. He is not of this world, has worn that knowledge like armour even as he has slowly become fitted to it. He needs to return to his old life to understand that it is no longer where he belongs, if it ever was to begin with. The warrior belongs by the Lady Door's side, Serpentine can see that he longs to remain there, but she understands too that he has a long journey ahead of him until he understands that. He will return, she is certain of that, but she does not mention this to the Lady Door. She must let him go, as Serpentine before her let her own champion go so many times, with only hope to comfort her. Serpentine has never been the kind to offer comfort whether true or false, and she sees no reason to change now. Not when there are none left alive that could bring her any in return.

Serpentine watches the world from her domain, the last of the Seven Sisters, thriving on the fear and hatred of the other denizens of London Below. Her long life stretches out for centuries behind her, and will continue long ahead of her. For the first time she dreads the long twilight years that will eventually come, now that they will no longer be brightened by Hunter's presence. She envies the humans around her a little with their short brutal lives, at least they can die of a broken heart; she must learn to live with her own.


End file.
